Her Sable Eyes
by One Red Shoe
Summary: There was more than one Prophesy,but not all predictions affect the whole wizarding community. This is a small tale of how one such Prophesy only affected two people in the aftermath of the final battle. It is not remotely canon compliant, and Snape survived obviously.


**Disclaimer:- **_I neither own nor earn anything from this story. Harry Potter and his world are the intellectual property of JK Rowling and associates._

sSs

**A/N:- **_A plot bunny kidnapped me, and started beating me over the head with this idea. Just a small post-battle story, nothing too heavy, I hope you enjoy it…_

hHh

**Her Sable Eyes**

Her heart still felt like it was about to jump out of her chest it was beating that hard. Hermione Granger could not believe it was finally over… and especially that they had at last won. The battle had produced many surprises, that greatest of which was the appearance of Severus Snape at the eleventh hour.

After he had delivered his memories to Harry, Hermione had knelt beside the fatally wounded professor, trying desperately to staunch the flow of blood from the gaping wound in his neck. His hands had managed to rise to still hers. "Go with him, he needs you," he had croaked, coughing at the effort.

"But you need help. How will you be all right?" Hermione had questioned, incredulously.

"Go," he ordered, as urgently as his condition allowed.

It was then as Hermione still knelt by him that she felt strong magic wash over them, and a light so bright in the dim and dank room that she had to cover her eyes. However, she then understood that he would be fine. "Oh," she gasped and smiled, seeing Fawkes alighting next to the dying wizard, and she ran after Harry and Ron knowing indeed that the wizard would be all right.

Once the battle was in full swing, Severus had shown himself, he had taunted Voldemort with ease, before calling for Harry to advance, that he had his back. True to his word and with his best sneer in place, Severus Snape had shown his true colours and provided half of the cover-fire for Harry Potter to finish the evil wizard, him on one side of the black-haired, boy-who-live, Hermione on the other and Ron covering them from behind.

xox

Now the battle was finished, and they had just finished rounding up any remaining live Death Eaters. Hermione was exhausted, and she paused as her eyes surveyed the damage. There were bodies and rubble everywhere.

In her exhaustion, she suddenly felt the weight of everything fall on her and she sagged against a stone pillar, intending to use it for support while she looked around. However, her potential resting place gave a sickening lurch as she put her weight against it, and there was an ominous rumble of masonry from above.

At that moment several thing happened in quick succession. A voice reached her, calling, "Hermione, look out," and stonework started to rain down from above in an ever increasing crescendo of falling debris. In her panic to move, Hermione only saw a swift movement of black before her eyes and felt strong arms pulling her to the ground, rolling her away from the scull-crushing deluge now falling exactly where she had been standing.

For what seemed like an eternity they rolled and rocks fell, and Hermione lost count of the cuts and bruises inflicted on her by the falling wreckage and from that already on the ground. Finally with a thunderous lurch the early evening twilight immediately became pitch black, and the noise slowly trickled away to nothing, they were buried.

It was at this moment as things quietened that she realised that she was trapped and that there was a heavy weight on her. Her natural reaction was to panic, but a silky voice close to her ear surprised her out of her terror. "Shhh," and her rescuer awkwardly managed to get himself onto his elbows to take some of the weight off her while using surprisingly gentle hands to push her hair out of her face. "Is that better?"

Hermione recognised the voice instantly and managed to nod her head, but her breath was still coming in gasping pants, and she started to shake. "P-Professor?" she stuttered, "I h-hate confined spaces," she managed in a tiny voice.

Severus' snort made dust rise. "You've just faced down the most dangerous wizard of this century like the true Gryffindor warrior you are, and you're scared of some bricks and mortar. You're a conundrum, my dear, Miss Granger."

Revelling in the offered praise from the most critical wizard she had ever met, Hermione grasped his robe lapels tighter but managed to forget their position for a moment and gave some cheek. "Yes sir; that I am. Even I don't know how I function."

Of all the things to do, Severus chuckled. "Indeed," he replied, but then his tone turned serious. "Are you injured in any way?"

"I think there's something wrong with my right ankle."

"Can you move it?" His breath caressed her face as he spoke, and he felt her shiver.

"N-no, sir."

"Are you cold?"

"N-no."

"I think you could start calling me Severus. After all, we are fairly intimately connected at the moment, and who knows how long we're going to be caught here like this."

Hermione nodded, she was well aware that her legs had parted and that his pelvis and hers were currently pressed together. She was also aware of a slight hardness pressing against her, and this confused her slightly. But just as she opened her mouth to speak there was another rumble and the tinkling of mortar falling. She couldn't help it; she whimpered and pulling him closer, buried her head in the crook of his neck.

He remained calm and kept talking to her. "Talk to me; it will take your mind off it."

Oh y-yes… H-Hermione," she licked her dry lips; they tasted of dust. "Please call me Hermione… hey you called me Hermione just then… b-before." There was another round of falling debris, and Hermione's breathing became more ragged but then she coughed as she got a mouthful of dust.

"Indeed I did, talk to me, Hermione."

"Y-yes, t-talk… Umm? Why?"

"Why do I want you to talk to me, or why did I call you Hermione?"

"Umm… the latter," she managed.

"Well that's your name, is it not?"

"Yes, but you have never called me that before."

"You were my student before," he said calmly.

"Oh," Hermione gasped, but anything further was cut off by the walls around them settling further, and Hermione's head buried further into Severus' hair as a little panicked cry left her lips.

Yet again he remained calm and merely encouraged her to keep talking. "Talk to me."

"Oh yes, umm…" and her mind grappled for the offered comfort with the first question that came into it. "H-how did you know you would survive in the Shrieking Shack?" The talking was helping, and Hermione was becoming aware of how wonderful Severus' skin smelt, even after his exertions during the battle and also how soft and _non-greasy_ his hair actually was.

"Ah, that's easy. There was a Prophesy concerning my demise, well really my supposed demise, and as soon as you tried to help me I knew it would come true. That's why I sent you away."

"Oh, I thought it was because you hated me," Hermione told him in a small voice.

"I don't hate you, Hermione."

"Y-you don't?" and she pulled her head away a bit to try and look at him. His recent actions and the inflection of the words were enough to sow substantial seeds of doubt in her mind. "But you don't like me either," she moved to say, but it came out sounding more hurt than she had intended it to.

Hermione is surprised when he chuckled again, and the sound of his mirth warmed her from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes.

"I have indeed accomplished my task well then. I thought if anyone would have rumbled me, it would have been the brightest witch of her age, and even if I'm sorry I had to say all those things to you, I'm also glad because now it's over."

Wishing she could see his face, Hermione felt her own face heat at his compliment. However, even when she looked hard all she could see in the dusty gloom is his shadowy presence above her. "I knew… well I hoped you were on our side. I guess really I did know, but I would never have given you away," she told him earnestly.

"Good girl," he said softly.

Hermione blinked, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

It was true to say that Hermione Granger had been enamoured of her Potions professor for some time. She thought that this year while they were away, hunting Horcruxes that her interest in him would wane. This had not been the case, and she had found that it was the thing that had actually kept her going. Every morning she managed to drag herself up knowing that it was one morning closer to seeing him again.

Of course she had thought that her interest in him was totally one-sided, as he had appeared to hate her. Then she remembered something, what was it that her mother had always told her? "Never assume," and she realised now that that is actually what she had done. She was drawn out of her thoughts by his answer.

"Did I mention that you were a part of the Prophesy I told you about earlier?"

While this answer was enigmatic, it also piqued her interest. _What had he said? When I tried to help him, he knew he would be okay_. "What has it got to do with me?"

Leaning closer to her ear, Severus whispered, "When you are at your lowest ebb, and hope seems lost. An old man's promise will be fulfilled even though he failed before, though at first you must turn away from your sable-eyed angel and look into the light for healing. Only then will your heart's desire be gained."

He raised his head and tried to look into her eyes, he wanted to see that moment she understood what he'd said, but it was too dark, although he heard her gasp.

Hermione felt a tingle of anticipation as her brain started sorting through what he had just told her. She started with the obvious. "So, Professor Dumbledore is the old man, did he promise that he would help you?"

"He did, there were times that I didn't believe him, but he did say he would," Severus gave what sounded like a heavy sigh, "and no doubt Mr. Potter has showed you how he let me down before."

"Actually, he hasn't. Ron wanted to see the memories and Harry refused, and gave your memories back to me for safe keeping. I haven't seen them either," Hermione told him.

There was silence above her, and her companion went very still, Hermione wondered what had been in the memories. Then she remembered Harry relating to her in horror after Severus had abruptly stopped giving him Occlumency lessons what he had seen in the professor's mind that night. It had been at that moment that Harry had realised that his father had indeed been a bully, and this coupled with what she had heard Sirius say while they had stayed at Number Twelve had built a picture of abuse, and she remarked softly. "You know Harry is nothing like his father in anything but looks."

This roused Severus from his contemplation, and his hand lightly stroked her cheek. "I know that now," he answered softly. "Keep telling me about our prophesy."

Hermione found the movements of his thumb gently stroking her cheek to be very disconcerting, and she missed his use of the possessive plural, but she forced herself to focus and not become lost in his ministrations. _After all he may only be doing this to keep me calm_, her brain told her. "H-he sent Fawkes…The p-phoenix is 'the light'." Hermione found she was almost breathlessly, and to offset it she asked, "Do you think Fawkes will stay with you now?"

"I hadn't considered that," Severus told her thoughtfully, his thumb pausing. "But you haven't told me who you think my sable-eyed angel is."

"Oh, well I…" and she stopped dead. "You think I'm an angel?"

Her words were so soft, they were almost breathed, and there was so much hope laced through them that Severus felt his heart clench in expectation. It allowed him to feel fairly secure in his next words. "Yes," he whispered, "well, at least I hope," and he tensed, waiting for her reply.

Without warning Hermione's head came up and they banged noses. "Oh, sorry… umm can you turn your head a bit, please?"

Severus blinked, "What kind of answer is that?" he demanded, and there was a nervousness she had not heard before in his voice.

"Please," she insisted, and when she felt him comply she raised her head again. "This kind," she whispered against his lips as she captured them with her own. A chaste kiss was all she had the courage for, but her heart soared, and she bit her lip waiting for his reply.

"Oh," he said, taking a deep breath and bringing his lips back for another kiss. Hermione giggled, and for the next few moments they occupied themselves thoroughly exploring one another's mouths.

When they finally broke apart, Hermione sighed, "Severus," and to his ears it sounded like an angel had indeed whispered it.

However, it was the next sounds they heard, that sounded even better than anything in their current predicament.

"_Homenum revelio_," it was Minerva's voice. Then she shouted, "Hagrid, over here there's two people under here."

They heard running feet and Harry say, "Do you think its Hermione and Snape?"

"I don't know, Mr. Potter, let Hagrid through."

"'ello?" the half-giant shouted.

"There is no point in greeting us, just get us out," Severus snipped.

"Oh 'ello, Professor. Hang on, we'll be as quick as we can," Hagrid laughed.

"Oh joy," the Potions master added, sarcastically.

"Severus," they heard Hermione admonish.

"Hermione … I was not expecting you to scold me with my given name so soon after being able to use it."

"Well, exactly what were you expecting me to do with it, Severus dear?"

By this time everyone was listening to the muffled exchanges between the two trapped beneath the piece of wall, but they only heard Severus whisper something in reply, then a clear tinkling laugh, and then the pair went very quiet.

Hagrid cleared his throat, and glanced at Minerva who simply raised an eyebrow. "Okay, stand back everybody," he told them, and he started shifting the rocks by hand. Minerva, Harry, Ron and Neville all helped with magic. Soon there was a clear perimeter around the huge piece of wall.

"All right, all together, we'll levitate while Hagrid lifts," Minerva instructed, looking around as more people came to their aid.

Soon the huge slab was hovering well above the ground. Severus scrambled stiffly to his hands and knees, but Hermione was still pinned by her ankle. The Potions professor searched around for something to use as a lever, but there was nothing. He knew that those helping couldn't keep such a heavy weight in the air for long, and he cursed, "If only I had my wand."

"Oh!" Harry gasped, "My back pocket," he said. "I found them where we first looked."

Severus lunged forward and grabbed the wands. He levitated the chunk of wall off Hermione's ankle and shoving both their wands in her hand he pulled her to safety trying to ignore her moan of pain at suddenly being moved.

Pushing himself up on very shaky legs, Severus cradled Hermione to his chest and moved them well away from danger. He felt Hermione's arms around his neck and her face was buried in the crook of his neck, but she had both wands tightly held in her hand. "You're right, love, your friends have gone for a medic," he murmured and felt her nod against his neck.

As luck would have it, the worst of the injured had now been taken to St. Mungos which was no doubt full to bursting, so Harry had no trouble getting someone to come and look at Hermione's ankle.

All superficial injuries were being treated on the spot and the person concerned being allowed to go with their friends afterwards. There was no molly-coddling like Madam Pomfrey did, Hermione's ankle was healed and she was left in the care of those around her.

After most people had departed, Ron said, "Well, it looks like it's all over here, you comin' to party?"

Harry nodded, but Hermione, who was standing in front of Severus leaned back against him and smiled when his arms curled around her waist. She looked up and around at him, "I think we have some private celebrating we'd like to do. I'll catch up with you guys in a few days, okay?"

"A few day?" Severus grinned evilly, "I was thinking more like a few weeks," and he watched with pleasure as Ron and Harry started to turn green.

"Oh that's disgusting," the redhead groaned.

Hermione smirked impishly. "Oh I certainly hope so," and she pulled Severus' head closer for a kiss. When she heard the boys both groaning she said, "I think our work here is done, lead the way, kind sir," and as they were walking away she added, "Seriously boys, I'll see you round."


End file.
